The scores flash on the big screen, a figure skater or two looks completely disgusted and the crowd starts booing, though they still don't know which of the faceless judges deserves the vitriol.

Suddenly, one of the skaters tosses a challenge flag -- just like a red-faced NFL coach -- onto the ice to dispute the marks as the audience roars in approval.

Would that dramatic turn rekindle your interest in skating?

Meagan Duhamel, attempting to defend her national pair title with partner Eric Radford at Canadians this week at Mississauga's Hershey Centre, wouldn't mind seeing something along those lines.

"We're thinking of different ways to do the competition," said the 27-year-old from Lively, near Sudbury. "Maybe after the scores come up, you can see (the score) for each element and as a skater, you're allowed one challenge (of the judges). If you're right, you get the points back and if you're wrong, you get a one-point deduction because you lost your challenge.

"A lot of people don't understand the judging system right now. Sometimes, we don't understand what's going on. What's been happening in pairs skating around the world, we're left lost, too, so if we're confused about it, imagine the random fan sitting in the audience."

What about the parents who have to decide if it's worth it to keep their kids in the sport? There are some talented pair teams in this country, but numbers are down considerably.

"We have a lot of singles and (ice) dance coming up in Canada," Radford said. "It's such a huge amount of time, sacrifice and money, parents' time driving their kids to the rink and you never know if it's going to pay off and so many factors have to come together to produce a champion.

"It's extremely rare and incredibly difficult."

The reward, too, isn't what is used to be. In Japan right now, skaters are rock stars.

They're going through the boom now Canada had in the '90s when Elvis Stojko and Kurt Browning were on top of the game. Budweiser Gardens, the London, Ont., site of the world championships in March, will be decked out with Japanese advertising.

"It's hard to put a finger on why it's gone down here," Duhamel said. "We have Tessa (Virtue) and Scott (Moir) and Patrick Chan who are the best in the world and Olympic champions, and it's hard to understand why people don't notice them as much.

"I remember when I was a kid, Elvis Stojko was in all these commercials on TV for McCain's juice and Royal Bank (and American Express) and they were doing all this stuff.

Patrick has reached the same level that Elvis and Kurt were at but he's not getting the same popularity.

"It's discouraging for our sport."

Duhamel and Radford got a look at the future of Canadian pair skating on Wednesday -- and it's decidedly left-handed.

Milton's Hayleigh Bell and Sebringville's Alistair Sylvester, Mariposa school students in Barrie who spin and jump in the off-the-grain clockwise direction, claimed the junior national title.

The toughest part of the whole thing is actually in practice, where their patterns put them at risk of running into the other skaters.

"We've had our fair shares of collisions," the 18-year-old Sylvester said. "I'm actually right-handed so it made learning lifts and things a little more difficult. It's quite unusual to find left-handed teams."

"We're always like we don't want to be on the practice with them," Duhamel joked. "We end up getting in their way but we don't mean to. Our patterns go one way and theirs go the other way so it's natural you bump into each other more."

Bell also competed in the junior girls single on the same day. She said it helps with her cardio for each.

At some point, she'll be forced to make a decision like Duhamel did.

Eight years ago, Duhame was fourth in pair and single after the short programs at nationals in London.

"In the moment when I was doing it, I didn't want to admit it was hard because I'm really stubborn," she said. "Everyone told me it's really hard and I should pick one but I was on this mission to prove that I could do both. After that failed two years in a row, I was at a point where I had to choose and it was also very expensive. I was funding my own skating and couldn't afford twice the coaching, twice the choreography, twice the ice time.

"I was already struggling to pay for one. That was actually the tipping (point)."

Bell and Sylvester, after this success, probably won't be in the same boat.

"I don't think the partnership is breaking up anytime soon," he said. "Pairs is our calling."

Can a challenge flag change figure skating?

The scores flash on the big screen, a figure skater or two looks completely disgusted and the crowd starts booing, though they still don't know which of the faceless judges deserves the vitriol.

Suddenly, one of the skaters tosses a challenge flag -- just like a red-faced NFL coach -- onto the ice to dispute the marks as the audience roars in approval.

Would that dramatic turn rekindle your interest in skating?

Meagan Duhamel, attempting to defend her national pair title with partner Eric Radford at Canadians this week at Mississauga's Hershey Centre, wouldn't mind seeing something along those lines.

"We're thinking of different ways to do the competition," said the 27-year-old from Lively, near Sudbury. "Maybe after the scores come up, you can see (the score) for each element and as a skater, you're allowed one challenge (of the judges). If you're right, you get the points back and if you